New Delhi : US-based Sionix Corporation, a leading designer of innovative and patented advanced mobile water treatment systems (MWTS), has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Mumbai-based water and wastewater treatment company Superklean Environmental Engineers Pvt Ltd (SEEPL).

The two companies will set up a joint venture company Sionix SK India Pvt Ltd (Sionix SK) to tap the growing opportunities in the water treatment space in the Indian sub-continent.

An official statement issued by Sionix Corporation from KLos Angekles, US, said The the MOU represents a body of principles that senior management of Sionix and SEEPL have agreed upon. However many details, including corporate governance and operational protocols need to be committed to a formal agreement, which the parties expect to resolve in the forthcoming few weeks.

The MOU is an expression of the understanding of the parties but does not guarantee that the parties will enter into the JV if formal agreement cannot be reached.

Once an agreement has been reached between the parties, it is expected that day-to-day operation of the JV will be under the supervision and control of SEEPL.

As part of a formal agreement, Sionix intends to grant a license to the JV for fabricating and assembling the MWTS in India for applications on the sub-continent under a royalty arrangement. A long term consulting engagement between Sionix and Sionix SK is also expected to be included in the formal documentation. Ownership of the JV is expected be equally apportioned to Sionix and SEEPL.

The Indian water industry is witnessing blistering growth that has attracted several overseas water companies to enter the market by forging joint venture with leading Indian players. A growing shortage and pollution of water, rising population, rapid industrialisation and increased focus on wastewater treatment to meet stringent statutory norms are expected to keep the market for water and wastewater products and services buoyant for several years.

Sionix senior vice president (international sales) Arun Bhan was quoted as saying in the statement, "The goal of Sionix SK will be to join Sionix MWTS products and the underlying, proprietary dissolved air flotation (DAF) technology with SEEPL's submerged aerobic fixed film (SAFF) technology, proprietary electrocoagulation products, anaerobic reactors, and de-watering equipment to implement rapidly advancing, proactive environmental initiatives under the sponsorship of the Indian government and private industry cooperatives on the sub-continent. We anticipate that, with an integrated package of water and waste water treatment products and a coherent, consolidated engineering and system integration platform, Sionix SK will raise awareness of Sionix in the international market."

SEEPL director of operations Amit K Gandhi said: "With the addition of the Sionix MWTS products and technology to our existing expertise in turnkey sewage, effluent and water treatment projects, we have a complete suite of water treatment products, engineering and design competence, and geographic coverage on the Indian sub-continent where Indian Pollution Control Board (PCB) standards define the market. We believe that our collaboration with Sionix will provide international exposure and credibility to both Sionix and SEEPL."

SEEPL, founded in 1986, was the first Indian company to design and build a common effluent treatment plant (CETP) for a cluster of industries in Hyderabad in 1989. The company has over the years designed and installed wastewater treatment plants in Kuwait, Indonesia, UAE.

Sionix designs innovative and advanced Mobile Water Treatment Systems (MWTS) intended for use in energy, government facilities, healthcare facilities, emergency water supplies during natural disasters, housing development projects, and various industrial processes including subterranean fracturing used in oil and gas drilling.

Water is one of the world’s gravest risks, according to the Global Risks Report published earlier this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos. And the situation is actually worse than it might seem at first glance.